Shades of gray, p.61
Shades of Gray, page 61
“Unity, record that decision,” said Khassis sharply.
“It is done, Speaker.”
“I adjourn this meeting,” said Khassis. “Annuur, our thanks again.”
Annuur nodded and dropped down onto all fours. Staggering slightly, he left the Speaker’s area and headed back to where his friends waited for him.
“That was totally unexpected,” he murmured, allowing Shvosi to take some of his weight against her shoulder when he stopped beside them. “Elders rarely step in.”
“Not by us,” said Kuvaa very quietly. “Time to find the guilty and punish them. More happening in Council than you know. You come with us to my home now. Warm bath, plenty good food, and privacy to talk there. Your sept can join us if you wish.”
“Thank you, I will accept,” he said tiredly.
K’oish’ik, later same day
It was afternoon before he had a chance to see Rezac in his suite. He’d needed an update from each section leader to know how they were progressing. Carrie was still busy with Conner and their telepaths, testing their abilities and teaching them more. The next day, they would join the others on the Tooshu with the Touibans for cold-weather training. With all the resources of a major battle cruiser, they had the facilities to quickly make the new gear that they would all need for the mission to M’Zull.
The final selection of telepaths would depend on their ability to use their Talents under combat and extreme weather conditions.
Raiban had left the day before for Shola, and L’Seuli for Ch’almuth, where he would conceal the ship behind the moon, out of sight of any approaching craft.
The MUTAC was back down on the surface of K’oish’ik and being tested by M’Nar and Jerenn. Now it was controlled from a form-fitting couch, and the pilot was attached to it by electrodes as well as hand and foot controls. When they moved, it moved; if they wanted it to stand, a control swung the couch into an upright stance and the MUTAC stood. It took a little getting used to, but they were quickly becoming proficient. Once they were, they would be teaching Jurrel as he and Banner were on the team.
What had been minor aches before the swim and soak in the pool had fast become major ones afterward, and Kaid had threatened him with Doctor Zayshul if he didn’t rest in his suite till at least the evening, taking some anti-inflammatory meds and applying copious amounts of bruise ointment. His injured finger had been treated with wound sealant and a light bandage to protect it, but it made for some clumsiness. All in all, he was glad to spend the afternoon resting.
Surprisingly, Carrie had not fretted over him, as she would have in the past, once she had seen for herself that he was safe. They were all getting more used to their life as members of the Brotherhood and all that it entailed.
Rezac announced his presence before he reached the door, and Kusac invited him to come straight in.
“Help yourself to coffee or c’shar,” said Kusac from where he was resting on the sofa, gesturing to a small drink dispenser on a side table as he entered.
“Thanks,” said the other, fetching a mug of coffee then joining him. He took the easy chair opposite. “What can I do for you, Kusac?” he asked.
Kusac chuckled. “Still not keen on titles, are you, Rezac? Here and now, that’s all right, but you’ll need to use them in front of the Primes, you know, and on the mission. We need to keep the line of command clear to them.”
“You want me to go with you?” he asked, ears pricking up as he sipped his drink.
“Yes. You’re one of the original enhanced telepaths, and I need your expertise. I saw for myself what some of your companions could do—Jayza for instance.”
“I can’t do it now, not since Zashou and I contracted the fever that changed us into what you are,” shrugged Rezac.
“Watch,” he said, holding his hand out. In it was the lump of bronze that Carrie had returned to him. As he concentrated on it, slowly it began to soften and flow into a new shape. He was surprised to find it was much easier to change the metal than it had been before. Controlling the heat the change generated was almost automatic.
Rezac let out an involuntary sound of surprise and leaned forward. “What the hell?”
Kusac closed his hand around it then held it out to him. “Take it,” he said.
Putting his cup down and reaching out, Rezac took it from him, turning it over in his own hands. “It’s me,” he said softly, looking up at Kusac.
He nodded. “I can change matter,” he said. “Not just tricks like this, but flesh as well.”
Rezac handed it back to him. “I saw you change into a Valtegan, then disappear. The Primes are full of it, calling it a sign from their Gods.”
Kusac made a gesture of dismissal. “Superstition,” he said. “I can’t say for sure how the ability came about, but that’s not important. I need your help to develop this talent into something we can use on the mission.”
Sitting back, Rezac rubbed his forehead. “Kusac, it took me and Zashou both to affect matter, you know this. All we did was make the embryos in their eggs sterile—drones, if you prefer—and that was more a matter of temperature control than anything else. We didn’t have time to explore our gift before we had to allow ourselves to be captured and brought here.”
“I’m sorry if returning to K’oish’ik has been painful for you,” said Kusac.
Rezac sighed, leaning forward again. “Not really. The Palace and City today are very different, and the people are nothing like the Valtegans of our time. Being with Jo has put nearly all those demons to sleep,” he added with a slight smile.
“I think I can reawaken your old abilities,” said Kusac. “Will you let me try?”
“What? Why would you want to do that?” he asked, shocked.
“So you can teach me, and we can work together.”
“Ah, perhaps you didn’t understand me when I said Zayshul and I had to pair to be able to do anything,” he said, reaching for his drink to cover his embarrassment.
Kusac laughed. “I’m not suggesting we do that! Apart from anything else, Carrie and Jo will be there too.”
“Thank goodness for that! As for getting that ability back, I’m not sure about that. If it depends on us having to pair with our mates before we can do anything, you’ll find it of as limited use as we did.”
“Oh, I intend to make sure that we don’t have to do that,” said Kusac. “I think the key to it is the gestalt. Yes, we’ll likely be vulnerable while working, but we’ll have the others to protect us, unlike in your time.”
“I’m sure you’ve considered how the Valtegans reacted to us in your time,” said Rezac. “One whiff of our scent will send them into a killing frenzy. We aren’t going to be able to get very close to them.”
“We are, if we are M’zullians,” he said quietly, putting the piece of bronze on the low table between them.
“You’re joking! No, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Deadly serious,” he said. “It’s the only way we can remain on M’zull and live. We also need to change the females with us so they at least appear male, or they’ll end up attracting every male from miles around.”
Rezac took a deep breath. “I don’t know that I want to go trying to change people, Kusac.”
“We’ll need to practice before it comes to that, first on inanimate objects, then on plants, and finally on animals. When we’re ready to try it with people, there are condemned prisoners in the cells.”
“If we get it wrong …” he began.
“One will monitor, the other change,” said Kusac. “If it goes badly wrong, the monitor can give a quick death to the subject.”
“Dammit, you’re taking a lot on yourself, Kusac. We aren’t Gods, you know!” he said with a flash of anger.
“I don’t think we are. It might be impossible for us to do this, but we have to try, and as soon as we can. Believe me, I will not spend one life, even a traitor’s, lightly.”
Rezac nodded slowly. “You need to know that I hate the Warrior class, the M’zullians,” he said, looking into his mug. “I don’t care how many of them die to achieve our means. I can just tolerate the Primes and Ch’almuthians, but only just. If this is what it takes to end their threat forever, I’ll do it.”
“I understand. I need to do one more thing,” he said. “I need to alter your Link to Jo, as I’ve altered mine to Carrie and Kaid’s to T’Chebbi.”
“How?” asked Rezac, narrowing his eyes and tilting his ears back in the beginnings of anger.
“I need to eliminate the five-day dependency of all Leska pairs coming with us. Instead, you’ll be able to exchange memories every night. I don’t need to tell you the benefits of that.”
Rezac’s ears righted and his brow smoothed. “No, you don’t. I’d be happy with that, though our mates might complain,” he said. “However, one thing you have overlooked—if we are all males …”
“That’s why I need more than just me able to change people,” he said. “The base camp will have to be safe enough for us to change back to our own shapes if need be. Other than that, no sex and absolutely no shape changing off the base will be the rule.”
“That should work,” Rezac agreed.
“I need you Linked to Jo for the first change. It can be undone, of course, but the less that makes us vulnerable to the enemy on this mission, the better.”
“Kusac, there are matters in my past … things I did as a youth …”
“I’m not interested in your memories, Rezac,” Kusac said with finality. “Unless you think about something so strongly while I’m working that I can’t miss it, I won’t even be aware of what you’re thinking about. Recite the Litanies if you wish; they’ll effectively block any other thoughts.”
Rezac gave a faint smile. “Yeah, they’ll do that,” he said. “You have to understand that I don’t trust easily. I always felt the odd one out. Some made me feel that way, pushing their privileged backgrounds in my face, calling me trash.”
Kusac leaned forward to put a hand on Rezac’s knee. “You led the rebellion against the Valtegans, Rezac. Not just that, you survived till our time, to bring us your knowledge and skills. You know that among us, you are an equal, and for those who know your past, you are a living legend of what determination and hope can achieve.”
“I’m not looking for praise,” said Rezac, ducking his head in embarrassment.
“But you’re getting it,”said Kusac, slapping his knee lightly then sitting back. “I need you and Jo to Link mentally before I can affect your Link.”
A slightly distant look came over Rezac’s face. “Ready,” he said.
Having done it twice before, it was the work of moments to make the changes with Rezac and Jo.
“Done,” he said. “Now comes the difficult part. You and Jo can unLink now,” he added.
“Our Link doesn’t feel any different,” said Rezac.
“It will tonight,” said Kusac. “Now I need to explore the connections in your mind. I need to find the altered pathways. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Reaching out again, he entered Rezac’s mind, this time charting the various telepathic pathways. This was a familiar exercise as like all student telepaths, he’d done his time at the Telepath Medical Guild to see if he had a talent for healing. He was looking for damage, an area once used but now lying wasted.
Rezac’s mind was as tense as an overstretched drum, making the task harder for Kusac. It was as if he were looking within a clenched fist, trying to see the open palm. Gradually, as time passed, Rezac finally began to relax and a few minutes later Kusac found what he was searching for.
The lesion was small, but it was at a junction for several bunches of nerves. He followed the main pathway in both directions, making sure he was right before he even attempted to do anything more. How to fix it was the question—he didn’t want to risk recreating the missing tissue because that would require taking some from elsewhere.
You’re getting too complicated, sent Carrie. Just tell it to heal itself. That’s more or less what you did to change our Link.
It was a lot more complicated than that.
There’s nothing to lose by trying, she replied as her presence faded.
Mentally shrugging, he decided to try a variant of that and touched his consciousness to either end of the lesion, creating a bridge between them. There was a sudden flare of light and energy, and he was flung violently from Rezac’s mind to find himself lying on the sofa, blinking and with a violent headache.
“Gods almighty, Kusac!” Rezac snarled. “What the hell did you do? Try to blow the top off my head?”
“Are you all right?” he asked, pushing himself upright again and trying to focus through the stabbing pain at Rezac, who was slumped in the chair.
“No thanks to you,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “I have a pounding headache now! Wait. You’ve done it. Oh, my Gods, you’ve done it, Kusac!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Look!” Rezac lunged forward to pick up the lump of bronze. Moments later he handed it to Kusac in a new shape, that of a perfectly formed egg. “I can do more with it than I could before!”
Kusac turned it over in his hands. “I think you just know more about controlling your abilities,” he said.
They looked at each other. “Time to see Conner,” said Kusac, putting the bronze egg down and absently scratching behind his ear.
Conner was busy with his group of acolytes making wreaths out of greenery and summer flowers. He looked up as their shadows fell over him.
“Take over, please, child,” he said to the young female with him before turning to them. “I’ve been expecting you,” he said. “Let’s talk in my office.”
“You have?” said Kusac as they followed him to the rear of the temple.
“I felt the surge in energy as you healed Rezac,” he said, ushering them into his office. “You need to know how to use this ability properly, don’t you? Well, I can help. Sit down.”
“Then there is an easier way to change matter?” asked Kusac, scratching thoughtfully at his neck as he sat.
“Easier? No, but a different way,” said Conner, taking a flower out of the vase that sat on his desk and putting it in front of them. “To change the nature of something, you need to know it from the inside out. Same with a person, as you found out, Kusac, when you were inside the mind of the Valtegan. You need to know what it is like to be a Valtegan to become one.”
“Does that mean we can only change ourselves?” asked Rezac.
“No. It has been done before, but seldom. It’s more like an illusion, one that is skin deep, but no more. At least, if you are making someone look like another of the same species,” he amended. “To change a Sholan to a M’zullian is much more complex. I don’t know if you’ll be able to achieve that with anyone other than yourselves. My advice is to stick with what is easy. Alter the skin color of the commandos to match those of the M’zullians if need be, and make the females appear male and exude a male scent. Don’t forget that!”
“We—Zashou and I—were able to affect the gender of embryos in eggs,” said Rezac.
Conner nodded. “Yes, that’s less complex than changing the sex of an adult person. Like some reptile eggs on Earth, their gender is temperature dependent.”
“I now believe we didn’t change the temperature, Conner,” said Rezac. “For a start, we didn’t know that. We actually changed the gender and made them all sterile.”
“You did?” Conner’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Then perhaps your abilities will be greater than those of my predecessors. Whatever you do, you will need an enormous amount of energy. The lessons I gave Kusac will help you. Draw energy from the living earth, or you will find you are depleting your own body’s resources beyond your capacity to replenish them quickly.”
“How do I do that?” asked Rezac.
Kusac quickly Linked to him and passed on the information.
“Oh! It’s obvious, isn’t it, once you know,” said Rezac.
“Indeed,” smiled Conner, picking up the white flower and passing it to Rezac. “Try to change the color of this flower.”
“I changed Kusac’s lump of bronze into an egg shape,” said Rezac, flicking his ears back briefly. “Why do I need to do something as simple as that?”
“You think it simple?” asked Conner. “What it will teach you is delicacy. You don’t need to pour as much effort into changing a flower as you did in changing the bronze. Try it and see. Make it red.”
Grumbling, Rezac began to concentrate on it. Moments later it began to shrivel and wilt.
“What the hell?” Rezac exclaimed, dropping it and leaping to his feet, overturning his chair in the process.
“Now imagine this was one of the commandos and you were attempting to change his skin color,” said Conner gently.
“Point taken,” Rezac growled, picking up his chair. “Pass me another one.”
At 18:00 Prime time, they met again in the Council chamber, this time with Rezac, Toueesut, Carrie, and Banner there as well.
“I had the TeLaxaudin quarters searched,” said Kezule, “but they were empty of anything belonging to them. The labs were searched too, but there was nothing to give us a clue as to where they came from.”
“What about on Kij’ik?” asked Kaid.
“Same there.”
“So that’s a dead end,” said Carrie, doodling on the pad in front of her.
“Regrettably,” said Kezule. “How did your experiments go, Kusac?”
Kusac glanced over at Rezac. “Show them,” he said.
Rezac leaned forward to take one of the flowers out of the vase on the table. Carrie watched as gradually the pale lilac of the bloom deepened and became a vivid purple. Rezac held it out to Kezule who took it, a puzzled look on his face.
“It may not look much,” Rezac said, “but I killed the first one. We can change the color of flowers without damaging them.”
“We needed to learn how deep a change is needed,” said Kusac, rubbing his forearm. “This means we should be able to safely change the skin tones of our commandos to match those of the M’zullians.”
